Titan Quest
by tb2571989
Summary: The story starts with a thrilling escape from a Titan, recreating the tension found ingame. For the rest, just read on. Work in progress, mind, feedback is appreciated. Cheers.


At last it happened. The sound of the claxon and the electronic female voice cut through the air. "Core Destroyed. All Personnel, Evacuate".

It was the start of an every-man-for-himself rush towards the exits. Alarms and sirens whooped and small explosions rocked the whole ship. It was time to go. As I ran towards the exits, I stepped over the body of a fallen soldier, his life-support suit shorted out when by an EMP blast, freezing him instantly in the intense cold. I jumped of the side and turned to watch the beautiful craft blow itself out of existence as I have seen many times before. Explosions ran the length of the hull and people jumped like rats from the proverbial ship. The massive underside guns fell silent as their operators ran for the escape pods. The propulsion units flickered a few times and then went black and strangely quiet as their power source was consumed by the explosions. I found cover in the ruins of a house, along with two other soldiers. The fear was in their eyes, and we watched as three explosions rocked the ship, one fore, one central, and one aft. A troop transport was hit by debris and was sent plunging towards the ground, carrying its unlucky passengers on a one-way journey to hell.

The titan then started its final stage of its destruction by tipping forward and then falling, almost gracefully, towards the ground. Troops began to flee from what would become the crash site. Everybody just ran as fast as their legs could take them, as the titan ploughed into the ground with a terrific crash, throwing clouds of earth, dust, and snow into the air. From the bowls of the smoking ship there was the sound of a claxon still audible, but this was different. Everybody threw themselves onto the ground, knocking their breath out of them, just as the nuclear reactors were able to take no more and went critical, and finally blew up, tearing the titan into thousands of pieces and making the ground shudder beneath us. I began to crawl away from that was left of the Titan, but a hot, sharp, something hit me in my back and everything was no more.

"Sir? Sir! Hello? Can you hear me?"

The voice was faint, like the batteries were running out on a radio.

"Hello? Sir? Can you hear me?"

My eye cracked open, and I muttered something incomprehensible.

"Okay, we've got you. You're gonna be fine. I'll give it to you straight. A piece of metal pierced your back, your lung and it very nearly hit your heart. Your one hell of a lucky soldier."

I finally managed to get out

"Where am I?"

The face above me broke into a crooked grin.

"EU Titan Group 117, currently above the south coast of Italy. Nice and sunny down there, but cold. It's currently -18oC outside, not too bad. Welcome back to the world of the living. We picked up around 68 of your crew, but 7 didn't make it."

61 survivors. From a crew of 178. Ouch. What a loss.

"The PAC has got mobile Block-III missile platforms now. That's why you came under attack; you didn't know they were in the area. They're beating their way back towards Kenya."

Suddenly the sound of boots came into the room.

"At ease, men" a voice said. I knew that voice. It was the legendary Supreme Commander Anster Loughdon.

I shadow passed over my face and I knew he was standing over me.

"Do you know who I am, Hunter?"

"Yes, sir," I replied. "Supreme Commander Anster Loughdon. Famous for his decisive victors in Shibula Tiblua and Minsk in 2140. Highest ranking fighting soldier in the EU forces."

"You are well informed. However, recently we have lost too many forces and our titans have been knocked out of the sky with alarming regularity. Our troop's morale is falling, battlefield commanders have been fleeing, leaving squad groups leaderless and easy to defeat. We would appreciate your help in leading a task force to recapture the ATM BLOCK-III silos around Verdun. When you're up and about, come see me on the bridge.


End file.
